A gas turbine engine extracts energy from a flow of hot combustion gases. Compressed air is mixed with fuel in a combustor assembly of the gas turbine engine, and the mixture is ignited to produce hot combustion gases. The hot gases flow through the combustor assembly and into a turbine where energy is extracted.
Generally there are an array of fuel nozzles between the compressor and the turbine. One type of combustor is a can combustor. In a can combustor, each fuel nozzle goes into a generally cylindrical combustor can, and one combustor can fuels the combustion process for each fuel nozzle. At the output end of the combustor can comes a concentric heated jet of combustion gases that goes into the turbine and produces work. The combustor may include dilution holes and cooling jets to keep the combustor from melting.
Another type of combustor is an annular combustor. An annular combustor generally has a liner with an inner wall and an outer wall, and a combustion chamber in between. At the input end (the compressor end) of the combustor, discrete nozzles are placed in an annular shape to inject fuel and air into the combustion chamber. An annular combustor can include dilution holes and/or dilution jets for cooling and mixing within the combustor. It can also include a thermal barrier coating to prevent the combustor from melting.